InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[The Count]

IDCC a patent troll?

Olddog, I threw out that term because I know IDCC has been called a patent troll (and a tax collector) by opponents to somehow make a case that they aren't entitled to royalties. I don't care what they call IDCC, the fact is that if IDCC has the patented IP required for a product, then they are going to do whatever it takes to get their rightful payment.

I don't worry about pejorative terms and when I one is used against me I will often adopt it to show I don't care what you call it as long as I get what's due. (My handle, The Count, came from someone trying to insult me for being an accountant. I had other connections to the term, so I took it as a new screen name.)

So if patent troll has a negative connotation that implies illegal or unethical business practices, no, IDCC is not a patent troll. However if a patent troll is a patent owner vigorously enforcing their patents, then I hope to hell that IDCC is the biggest damn patent troll in the world. I'd love to read a Nokia message board filled with bitter posts about how that miserable tax collecting patent troll IDCC is taking such a huge percentage of their sales revenues "just" for inventing the technology they use to build them.

Frank